June 24
Events * 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces. * 1128 - Battle of São Mamede, near Guimarães. Portuguese forces led by Alfonso I defeat his mother D.Teresa and D.Fernão Peres de Trava. After this battle, the future king calls himself "Prince of Portugal", the first step towards "official independence" in 1143. * 1314 - End of the Battle of Bannockburn. Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce defeat Edward II of England. Scotland regains its independence. * 1340 - Hundred Years' War: Battle of Sluys The French fleet was almost totally destroyed by the English Fleet commanded in person by Edward III of England. * 1374 - A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion. * 1441 - Eton College founded. * 1497 - John Cabot lands on North America in Newfoundland; first European exploration of the region since the Vikings. * 1497 - Cornish traitors Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank executed at Tyburn, London * 1509 - Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon crowned King and Queen of England. * 1535 - The Anabaptist state of Münster is conquered and disbanded. * 1571 - Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founded Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines. * 1597 - The first Dutch voyage to the East Indies reaches Bantam (on Java). * 1662 - Dutch attempt but fail to capture Macau. * 1664 - The colony of New Jersey is founded. * 1692 - Kingston is founded. * 1717 - The Grand Lodge of England, the first Freemasonic Grand Lodge (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England. * 1793 - First republican constitution in France adopted. * 1794 - Bowdoin College is founded. * 1812 - Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman River beginning his invasion of Russia. * 1813 - Battle of Beaver Dams : A British, and Indian joint force defeat the U.S Army. * 1821 - Battle of Carabobo - Battle of Carabobo was the decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain. * 1859 - Battle of Solferino: (Battle of the Three Sovereigns). Sardinia and France defeat Austria in Solferino, northern Italy. * 1880 - First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français. * 1894 - Marie Francois Sadi Carnot assassinated by Sante Geronimo Caserio. * 1901 - First exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work opens. * 1902 - King Edward VII of the United Kingdom develops appendicitis, delaying his coronation. * 1913 - Greece and Serbia annul their alliance with Bulgaria. * 1916 - Mary Pickford becomes first female film star to get million dollar contract. * 1916 - Battle of the Somme begins with a week long artillery bombardment on the German Line. * 1918 - First airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto. * 1928 - With declining business, the Great Gorge and International Railway begins using one-person crews on trolley operations in Canada * 1932 - A military coup ends the absolute power of the king of Siam (Thailand). * 1938 - A 450 metric ton meteorite strikes the earth in an empty field near Chicora. * 1940 - France and Italy sign an armistice. * 1945 - Moscow Victory Parade * 1947 - Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington. * 1948 - Start of the Berlin Blockade. The Soviet Union makes overland travel between the West with West Berlin impossible. * 1949 - The first Television Western, Hopalong Cassidy, is aired on NBC starring William Boyd. * 1957 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. * 1963 - Zanzibar is granted internal self-government by the UK. * 1975 - An Eastern Air Lines Boeing 727 crashes at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. 113 people die. * 1981 - What would be the world's longest single-span suspension bridge for 17 years, the Humber Bridge opens, connecting Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. * 1982 - British Airways Flight 9, sometimes referred to as the Jakarta incident, flew into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung, resulting in the failure of all four engines. * 1983 - Space Shuttle program: STS-7 Mission Sally Ride, first female American astronaut, returns to earth. * 1993 - Yale computer science professor Dr. David Gelernter loses the sight in one eye, the hearing in one ear, and part of his right hand after receiving a mailbomb from the Unabomber. * 1994 - A United States Air Force B-52 aircraft crashes at Fairchild Air Force Base, killing all four members of its crew. * 1995 - South Africa defeats New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The 1995 World cup was the first major sporting event in South Africa after Apartheid. * 2002 - The Igandu train disaster in Tanzania kills 281, the worst train accident in African history. * 2004 - Habib Dodo, the general secretary of the Communist Youth of Côte d'Ivoire is assassinated by pro-government forces. * 2004 - In New York, capital punishment was declared unconstitutional. * 2007 - The Angora Fire starts near South Lake Tahoe, California destroying 200+ structures in its first 48 hours. Births * 1244 - Henry I of Hesse (d. 1308) * 1343 - Jeanne de Valois (d. 1473) * 1386 - Giovanni da Capistrano, Italian saint (d. 1456) * 1485 - Johannes Bugenhagen, German reformer (d. 1558) * 1519 - Theodore Beza, French theologian (d. 1605) * 1533 - Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (d. 1588) * 1535 - Joan of Spain, queen consort of Portugal (d. 1573) * 1542 - St. John of the Cross, Spanish Carmelite mystic and poet (d. 1591) * 1546 - Robert Parsons, English Jesuit priest (d. 1610) * 1663 - Jean Baptiste Massillon, French churchman (d. 1742) * 1687 - Johann Albrecht Bengel, German scholar (d. 1757) * 1694 - Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, Swiss publicist (d. 1748) * 1704 - Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, French writer (d. 1771) * 1774 - François Nicolas Benoît, French general (d. 1838) * 1777 - John Ross, British naval officer and explorer (d. 1856) * 1795 - Ernst Heinrich Weber, German anatomist and physiologist (d. 1878) * 1803 - George James Webb, English-born composer (d. 1887) * 1804 - Willard Richards, American religious leader (d. 1854) * 1811 - John Archibald Campbell, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1889) * 1813 - Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman and reformer (d. 1887) * 1826 - George Goyder, surveyor-general of South Australia (d. 1898) * 1842 - Ambrose Bierce, American author (disappeared 1914) * 1850 - Horatio Kitchener, British field marshal (d. 1916) * 1860 - Mercedes of Orleans, queen of Spain (d. 1878) * 1882 - Carl Diem, German Olympic official (d. 1962) * 1882 - Athanase David, French Canadian politician and businessman (d. 1953) * 1883 - Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964) * 1886 - George Shiels, Northern Irish dramatist (d. 1949) * 1888 - Gerrit Rietveld, Dutch architect (d. 1964) * 1895 - Jack Dempsey, American boxer (d. 1983) * 1897 - Daniel K. Ludwig, American shipping magnate (d. 1992) * 1900 - Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician (d. 1945) * 1901 - Harry Partch, American composer (d. 1974) * 1904 - Phil Harris, American singer, songwriter and comedian (d. 1995) * 1906 - Pierre Fournier, French cellist (d. 1986) * 1907 - Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet (d. 1989) * 1908 - Hugo Distler, German composer (d. 1942) * 1908 - Guru Gopinath, Indian classical dancer (d 1987) * 1908 - Alfons Rebane, Estonian military officer (d. 1976) * 1911 - Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentine Formula One 5-time World Champion (d. 1995) * 1911 - Ernesto Sábato, Argentinian writer * 1912 - Brian Johnston, British cricket commentator (d 1994) * 1914 - Pearl Witherington CBE, British WW II secret agent * 1915 - Fred Hoyle, British astronomer (d. 2001) * 1922 - Tata Giacobetti, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra) * 1924 - Kurt Furgler, member of the Swiss Federal Council * 1927 - Martin Lewis Perl, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate * 1930 - Claude Chabrol, French film director * 1930 - William B. Ziff, American publishing executive (d. 2006) * 1931 - Billy Casper, American golfer * 1934 - Jean-Pierre Ferland, Québec singer * 1935 - Terry Riley, American composer * 1938 - Lawrence Block, an acclaimed contemporary American crime writer * 1941 - Julia Kristeva, Bulgarian-French philosopher, psychoanalyst, and novelist * 1942 - Michele Lee, American actress * 1944 - Jeff Beck, English musician (The Yardbirds) * 1944 - Arthur Brown, English musician * 1944 - John "Charlie" Whitney, English guitarist (Family, Streetwalkers, Axis Point) * 1944 - Chris Wood, English musician (d. 1983) * 1945 - Colin Blunstone, English musician (The Zombies) * 1945 - George Pataki, American politician * 1945 - Wayne Cashman, Canadian ice hockey player * 1946 - Ellison Onizuka, American astronaut (d. 1986) * 1946 - David Collenette, Canadian politician * 1947 - Peter Weller, American actor * 1947 - Mick Fleetwood, English musician (Fleetwood Mac) * 1948 - Patrick Moraz, Swiss keyboard player (Yes) * 1949 - John Illsley, English bassist (Dire Straits) * 1950 - Mercedes Lackey, American author * 1950 - Nancy Allen, American actress * 1952 - Stephen Pusey, British-born artist * 1953 - Ivo Lill, Estonian artist * 1955 - Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, Guru of Siddha Yoga * 1955 - Betsy Randle, American actress * 1956 - Joe Penny, English actor * 1958 - Curt Fraser, American ice hockey coach * 1958 - Jean Charest, Premier of Québec * 1958 - John Tortorella, American ice hockey coach * 1960 - Trisha Meili, the "Central Park Jogger" * 1960 - Karin Pilsäter, Swedish politician * 1961 - Dennis Danell, American musician (Social Distortion) (d. 2000) * 1961 - Iain Glen, Scottish actor * 1961 - Bernie Nicholls, Canadian ice hockey player * 1961 - Curt Smith, English musician and songwriter (Tears for Fears) * 1963 - Anatoly Borisovich Jurkin, Russian writer * 1963 - Preki, Serbian-born American soccer player * 1963 - Mike Wieringo, American comic book artist (d. 2007) * 1964 - Gary Suter, American ice hockey player * 1966 - Hope Sandoval, American singer-songwriter * 1966 - Adrienne Shelly, American actress, director and screenwriter (d. 2006) * 1967 - Bill Huard, Canadian ice hockey player * 1967 - Richard Kruspe-Bernstein, German musician (Rammstein) * 1967 - Janez Lapajne, Slovenian film director * 1967 - Scott Oden, American writer * 1967 - Sherry Stringfield, American actress * 1969 - Sissel Kyrkjebø, Norwegian singer * 1970 - Glenn Medeiros, American singer * 1972 - Robbie McEwen, Australian cyclist * 1972 - Denis Zvegelj, Slovenian rower * 1973 - Alexander Beyer, German actor * 1973 - Ji Jin Hee, South Korean actor * 1975 - Carla Gallo, American actress * 1975 - Marek Malik, Czech ice hockey player * 1976 - Louisa Leaman, English author * 1977 - Dimosthenis Dikoudis, Greek basketball player * 1978 - Luis García, Spanish footballer * 1978 - Pantelis Kafes, Greek footballer * 1978 - Shunsuke Nakamura, Japanese footballer * 1978 - Ariel Pink, American musician * 1978 - Juan Román Riquelme, Argentine footballer * 1978 - Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen, Finnish guitarist (Nightwish) * 1979 - Craig Shergold, British internet folklore subject * 1979 - Petra Němcová, Czechoslovakian-born supermodel * 1980 - Minka Kelly, American actress * 1980 - Cicinho, Brazilian footballer * 1980 - Andrew Jones, Australian racing driver * 1982 - Brian Fitzgerald, American writer * 1982 - Kevin Nolan, English footballer * 1982 - Mark Penney, Canadian film director * 1982 - Jarret Stoll, Canadian ice hockey player * 1984 - J.J. Redick, American basketball player * 1985 - Kyle Searles, American actor * 1985 - Yukina Shirakawa, Japanese gravure idol * 1986 - Phil Hughes, American baseball player * 1986 - Solange Knowles, American singer * 1987 - Arturo Lupoli, Italian footballer * 1987 - Lionel Messi, Argentine footballer * 1993 - Brian Driscoll, Legand among Humans Deaths * 803 - Higbald of Lindisfarne * 1398 - Hongwu Emperor of China (b. 1328) * 1439 - Duke Frederick IV of Austria (b. 1382) * 1519 - Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara (b. 1480) * 1520 - Hosokawa Sumimoto, Japanese samurai commander (b. 1489) * 1604 - Edward de Vere, Lord Great Chamberlain of England (b. 1550) * 1637 - Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, French astronomer (b. 1580) * 1643 - John Hampden, English politician (b. 1595) * 1766 - Adrien-Maurice, French soldier (b. 1678) * 1778 - Pieter Burmann the Younger, Dutch philologist (b. 1714) * 1803 - Matthew Thornton, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1714) * 1817 - Thomas McKean, American lawyer and signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1734) * 1835 - Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician, commander of Greek naval forces in Greek War of Independence (b. 1769) * 1894 - Marie François Sadi Carnot, French statesman (b. 1837) * 1908 - Grover Cleveland, President of the United States (heart failure) (b. 1837) * 1909 - Sarah Orne Jewett, American writer (b. 1849) * 1922 - Walther Rathenau, German Minister of Foreign Affairs (assassinated) (b. 1867) * 1935 - Carlos Gardel, Argentine singer (airplane crash) (b. 1890) * 1947 - Emil Seidel, Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (b. 1864) * 1968 - Tony Hancock, British comedian (b. 1924) * 1977 - André-Gilles Fortin, French Canadian politician (b. 1943) * 1978 - Robert Charroux, French writer (b. 1909) * 1984 - Clarence Campbell, Canadian NHL president (b. 1905) * 1987 - Jackie Gleason, American actor and musician (b. 1916) * 1991 - Rufino Tamayo, Mexican painter. * 1993 - Brian Driscoll, Legand among Men (b. 1915) * 1997 - Don Hutson, American athlete (b. 1913) * 1997 - Brian Keith, American actor (b. 1921) * 2000 - Vera Atkins, Romanian-born British intelligence officer (b. 1908) * 2000 - David Tomlinson, English actor (b. 1917) * 2002 - Pierre Werner, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (b. 1913) * 2003 - Vladimir Garin, Russian actor (b. 1987) * 2004 - Ifigeneia Giannopoulou, Greek songwriter (b. 1957) * 2005 - Paul Winchell, American voice actor and ventriloquist (b. 1922) * 2005 - Hakham Yedidia Shofet, Former chief rabbi of Iran (b. 1908) * 2006 - Patsy Ramsey, mother of JonBenét Ramsey (b. 1956) * 2007 - Byron Baer, American politician (b. 1929) * 2007 - Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1967) * 2007 - Derek Dougan, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1938) * 2007 - Natasja Saad, Danish reggae and dancehall artist (b. 1974) Holidays and observances * Fête nationale du Québec, also called St-Jean-Baptiste Day * Original Midsummer's Eve in Finland and Sweden, although the official holiday is now moved to the nearest Friday * One of the four Irish Quarter days in the Irish Calendar. * Discovery Day in Newfoundland and Labrador (celebrating the 1497 discovery by John Cabot) * Inti Raymi in Cusco * Dan Državnosti in Croatia- Independence Day in 1991, independence from Yugoslavia * Manila Day in Philippines - foundation day of Manila, capital of the Philippines. This commemorates the founding of Maynila (former name of Manila) by Miguel lopez de Legazpi, a Spanish conquistador. * Jāņi - Latvia * Juhannuspaiva in Finland * Battle of Carabobo Day in Venezuela (1821) * Bannockburn Day in Scotland (see 1314 above) * Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Rahmat (Mercy) - First day of the sixth month of the Bahá'í Calendar * Quarter days in England * American Radio Relay League - Field Day 2006 Liturgical feasts Roman Catholic Church * Feast of the birth of Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of Québec, brush makers and knife sharpeners; also Festival of San Juan observed in Bolivia and Peru, Jaaniõhtu in Estonia and Sao Joao in Portuguese, especially in Porto * Cusco's Day In Peru * Saint Theodulf * St.Hans in Norway External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:June